The Kimberley's oldest station hits the market

Located at the heart of WA's cattle country, Yeeda station is an integrated beef business on more than 473,000 hectares and includes an abattoir, Kimberley Meat Company, with a capacity for 77,000 animals.

The location is about 40 kilometres south of Derby and is 160km east of Broome, on the coastal floodplain offering access to both the Fitzroy River and Yeeda Creek.

Yeeda station is on the forefront of a developing carbon market, with a conditional registration to a 25 year carbon project, with an estimated potential of 288,000 carbon credit units.

There are eight residences between Broome and Derby to accommodate staff.

The sale is being facilitated by Elders Real Estate (in conjunction with Poynton Stavrianou), with offers being accepted for the whole station, or pastoral and processing assets individually.

The station is rich in history, first beginning operation in 1880 by five men, William Paterson, George Paterson, H. Cornish, Alexander Richardson and Samuel Elliott who formed the Murray Squatting Company.

The men introduced sheep to the property in the same year, after passing through the Fitzroy River sandbar on revenue cutter ship, Ruby.

The captain of the ship quickly noted the rivers and excellent pasture for landing stock.

By September in the following year, introduced sheep were thriving and 200 lambs were born.

This became the nucleus of a rapidly-expanding population of animals.

Yeeda Homestead was the first to be built in the Kimberley, on the banks of the Yeeda River, in 1881, made from wood and iron with a roof of bark.

At the time, their nearest neighbours were at De Grey station, 161km away.

In 1882 herds of cattle were introduced to the property, however in 1883, Yeeda station was sold by the Murray Squatting Company to an English financier and was placed under the management of a man named George Rose.

Shortly after, Yeeda station became a home base for prospectors after the publication of a geological survey, which had found deposits of gold at the Fitzroy, Ord and Margaret Rivers in the West Kimberley.

Reports published in The West Australian, tells the story of one group of prospectors who found 10 ounces of payable gold "laying in the bed of the (Panton River) Creek, quite close to the surface, merely covered by the drift sand", in a 16 day journey between Yeeda station and the Panton River.

By the turn of the century, following the gold rush and devastating floods, Yeeda station was home to 10,000 head of cattle, which doubled in 1920 and grew in acreage to more than one million acres, or 400,000ha.

More recently, the owners of neighbouring Kilto station, Jack and Vicki Burton purchased Yeeda station in 1999, forming the Yeeda Pastoral Company with the Taberer and Keys families, who developed the station extensively.

At this point, there were 80,000 head of cattle and 20,000 head of sheep.

Over the years, the Yeeda Pastoral Company acquired neighbouring station Mount Jowlaenga as well as Springvale station, which is about 500km away in the East Kimberley.

In 2016, the Kimberley Meat Company abattoir was opened on freehold land which neighbours Yeeda station, and this facility is also being offered for sale.

The Burton family were stakeholders in the Yeeda Pastoral Company until 2019.

In 2022, Springvale station was acquired by Andrew Forrest.

Expressions of interest for the property close on Friday, May 17, at 4pm.